Readers… I’m moving my reports from the teaching cooking classroom over to my new site, www.allergictosalad.com. Head there to read all about my adventures in the classroom. In the meantime, things will be delayed as I work on design, move some of the stories below there and get this year’s antidotes going.

Enjoy and don’t forget to sign up to the newsletter on the new site. You’ll find the feature in the top right corner. If you’re already a member to the Just Braise feed I will be adding you into the Allergic to Salad feed. Stick it out with me in our adventures together!

I found this interesting and thought I’d pass it along:

An associate I work with passed on some info about a raw milk. Apparently there is an outbreak of campylobacteriosis in Michigan. This outbreak is being linked with raw milk sold in Indiana. Campylobacteriosis, is a bacteria found in cattle, swine, birds and CATS AND DOGS.

NO ONE in Indiana has reported illness as far as my search can find, nor in surrounding states.

A segment reads:
(http://www.wtaq.com/news/articles/2010/mar/30/fda-warns-raw-milk-risks-hundreds-support-bill/)

FDA Warns of Raw Milk Risks, Hundreds Support Bill
Posted Tuesday March 30, 2010

WASHINGTON D.C. (WTAQ) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has alerted consumers to a disease from raw milk, as a Wisconsin legislative committee was about to consider legalizing its sale. Michigan’s Department of Community Health reports at least 12 confirmed cases of campylobacterosis from those drinking raw milk from a dairy in Middlebury Indiana.According to the Brownfield Ag News Service, the symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, fever, abdominal pains, headaches, and body aches. The Wisconsin Medical Society cited the Michigan case in urging the Assembly’s Rural Economic Development Committee to reject a bill Tuesday morning allowing raw milk sales. 3 other statewide health groups and four farm organizations signed the same memo, which also told legislators about e-coli and other infections from drinking raw milk.

Supporters of raw milk say it has other redeeming health benefits that pasteurized milk does not. And hundreds of supporters recently urged lawmakers to pass the measure at a hearing in Eau Claire.

I did find that black pepper, sold only in the state of Michigan, is currently on a “rolling recall” basis:

http://www.foodpoisonjournal.com/2010/04/articles/foodborne-illness-outbreaks/black-pepper-rolling-recall-continues/

Some questions to consider:

Do you think that perhaps people that drink raw milk also might use black pepper?
How many people got sick that do not report drinking raw milk?
Better yet: How many people that got sick also own a cat or dog?
How many of those pet owners do not drink raw milk?

What is fascinating, is that at the same time, Wisconsin lawmakers were discussing passing a bill to make raw milk sales legal in Wisconsin. As debate opened, the outbreak in MI was reported. The bill did not pass.

I can’t believe theses posts have gotten so far away from me! My spring semester cooking with kids started in late January.  This semester I am upping our International flavors which I’m very excited about. One of my fifth graders figured it out the smarty: “Are we cooking around the world? Last week we cooked Indian, now we’re doing Japanese.” Answer: Yes! As much as I can, I am.

I’m also introducing (some) meats and fish this semester. Overall with allergies, religions and dietary restrictions, it’s far easier to keep the cooking vegetarian (why haven’t schools figured that out?). On the other hand, I also think it’s important to expose young people to working with meats and fish, especially when raw. I know too many adults who are terrified to touch raw meat or fish– it’s horrible! How can you eat something if you can’t even bring yourself to touch it?! I have a few students with texture issues, but overall, most of them have been great with what we’ve done so far. If they begin to freak out I tell them to take a deep breath and imagine clay.

Another item is expanding our whole grains. The kids are totally fascinated with exploring these grains and connecting the dots– “Wait, chickpea flour, like the hummus bean?” “Yes!” Some folks (not my students) still don’t get it: “You know you could have just used rice there.”

“Right, but they know rice. They don’t know farro or bulgar.”

“Neither do I.”

“Exactly.”

I’m also pleased to introduce mystery fruit and vegetables. So much suspense and the kids eat it up, literally. It’s not something I do every week, but if we have something I know will take a good 15-20 minutes in the oven, or if I have some time to kill towards the end of class, I’ll bring in a mystery item. I try to keep it local and in season, and have often brought in items from my own CSA winter share to explore. Students get really excited if they can guess it, or at least recognize it. Celeriac brought shouts about a father’s favorite salad item. Watermelon radish brought total astonishment of the world’s smallest watermelon (which, is a radish, not a watermelon). One of my students even stopped by last Friday with his father before he went home: “Wait! We didn’t do a mystery vegetable this week?!” “I know, we didn’t have time we were so busy, I think we’ll do something next week.” “YES!” I had an admin in the other day observing my class and as we put our dish in the oven and I turned around with, “time for a mystery vegetable!” and my kindergarten/first grade class erupted in cheering the admin looked at me totally astonished. I’m not saying the kids chow down on everything but they love trying to place these sometimes foreign items and often will complete the whole sample plate I set out for them.

On to our foods, recipes at bottom.

Kibbeh with Black Cherry Sauce
Our semester started in the Middle East with lamb-beef kibbeh with a black cherry sauce. “Kibba-wha?” A sort of Middle Eastern meatball I explained, only instead of bread crumbs, like in Italian meatballs, we’re adding bulgar. We served these with a black cherry reduction (literally frozen cherries boiled down with a touch of lemon juice). These were a huge hit. We made extra for our end of the semester party and the kids are really excited to share these with their parents.

Banana-Coconut-Oat Bread
Because of so many allergies I don’t cook with nuts. It kills me sometimes! For example, I LOVE peanut butter cookies and muffins and I LOVE walnuts in my banana bread. I get my kick by adding ingredients like oats, or seeds with nutty characteristics, like flaxseed or pumpkin seeds to get that nutty flavor. This bread was a hands down hit and the best part was it wasn’t overly sweet at all. The bananas are upped so much in this recipe that a true banana flavor really shines through and the sweetness of the banana makes up for the huge amount of sugar that’s in most recipes. We made ours with raisins I soaked overnight, but this could easily be made with chocolate chips, dried strawberries, blueberries, cranberries, or any other fruit-nut combo you can think of that you like with banana.

Chicken Soup with Farro & Buttermilk Chive Biscuits
There is only one kind of week when I’m thankful for cold, rainy weather. It’s any week we’re making soup in class! I remember this week started and ended dreary and I was so happy all week everyone must have thought I was totally twisted. (Really though, I love soup in any weather!) We used chicken thighs and wings for the broth and my students got a huge kick out of it– everyone wanted a wing in their soup. Instead of celery for our base flavor we used fennel. This turned out great since the week before fennel was our mystery vegetable. My students overall loved it so I turned a basic chicken soup into an Italian twist. To bring it back to the States, we made mini buttermilk biscuits.

Timing here was perfect for our one hour class: get soup simmering, make biscuits, bake biscuits, strain soup, add sliced carrots and fennel, biscuits out, divy up soup and biscuits. I cooked the farro at the beginning of class and allowed everyone to taste it before it went into the cups where our broth was going. I also threw some cranberry beans in because I found out during our arepa week that my students are a sucker for beans. The best part was when some of my students turned those biscuits into dumplings after a few slipped biscuits floated and were made better soup-soaked.

Moong dal Chilla (Indian Lentil Pancakes)
This week could have been a huge disaster. It luckily turned into a huge success. Even the admin was skeptical: “Lentil pancakes, good luck on that one.” And every student walking into the classroom: “Yeah! pancakes!” “No guys, look, lentil pancakes, these are savory pancakes.” That statement often received not too enthusiastic grumbles. In the end, these were a huge hit. I soaked moong dal beans (split hulled mung beans) in water overnight. Blitzed those to a paste and cut it with chickpea flour. We added some Indian flavors and in the interest of time, poured these into a half sheet pan, brushed them with olive oil and baked them (as opposed to cooking up 15 pancakes on a skillet). We also made a quick raita to eat these with and I’d say in the end I received about 90% thumbs up reviews.

Nori Wrapped Cod Cakes (pictured above)
I found out that before I started teaching someone had made vegetable sushi with the kids to rave reviews. I couldn’t understand why at first. But sushi is so hot these days, even kindergardeners will eat up the basic veggie rolls. What surprised me though was when someone told me it was the seaweed they loved. What? Most of my students will snack on sheets of nori like crackers (and did throughout class– I had to put a snack bowl out!). They love the subtle saltiness and crisp flakiness of it. So I couldn’t wait to work seaweed into a dish this semester.

Inspiration came when I thought of making a fish stick with a Japanese bent. Flaky, neutral cod (with some seasonings), rolled into panko crumbs and wrapped with nori. We even stuck little skewers in it so it was not just a fish stick, but fish on a stick. My students loved it. It reminded them of the sushi they made before, but opened them up to a delicious fish.

Green Mac N’ Cheese (pictured above)
I try to stick with a few holidays during the semester. St Patrick’s Day is one I figured I could have a little fun twist with– something along the green eggs and ham motif. I’m from Chicago where St Pat’s was a day when not only the River got dyed green, but every piece of toast and milk along with it. So in class, I thought, why not green mac n’ cheese!

This day was another hilarious introduction to our menu: “We’re making green mac n’ cheese!” “I don’t get it– We’re using food coloring?” “No! We’re going to make our mac n’ cheese green by pureeing spinach into our sauce.” “What?! That’s so unfair!” I love how things so easily become unfair with young people.

What’s hilarious here is that the spinach was gross (for the younger students) all the way into the sauce, but once that immersion blender smoothed it out it was suddenly “cool, like a green milk shake, but smells like mac n’ cheese!” In the end I had students coming back for more and more of the green stuff. At home, D and I have been known to make a few mac n’ cheeses. Our favorite is a fig-bacon-mushroom mac n’ cheese, but I could see this one at home with some shrimp or better yet lobster tossed in! Yum!

NOTE: The picture above are of some of my fourth/fifth grade students. A few weeks ago I started letting them take the reigns more while I supervise. Essentially they get into class and form their small groups, we review the ingredients together and they take over from there, following the recipe on their own. They’re loving their new responsibilities in the kitchen and I’m loving that they’re capable (almost) solo chefs!

*****

Kibbeh with Black Cherry Sauce (aka Middle Eastern meatballs)
10 servings, appetizer

Kibbeh:
3/4 cup onion (about 1 large onion), rough chopped
1 cup fine-ground bulgur, cooked
1/2 pound ground lamb
1/2 pound lean ground beef
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon allspice
2 tablespoons olive oil

Puree the onion in a food processor or blender. Transfer to a bowl. Add cooked bulgur, lamb, beef, salt, pepper and allspice. Mix until thoroughly incorporated. Roll into small meatballs, about 1-inch in size. Add olive oil to a sauté pan set over medium high heat. Cook until browned on both sides. Serve with Black Cherry Sauce (recipe not included).

*****

Banana-Coconut-Oat Bread
1 loaf

1-1/4 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup brown sugar (substitute: honey)
1/4 cup shredded coconut, toasted
1 tablespoon flax seeds, finely ground
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, in 1 tablespoon pieces, room temp
1/4 cup coconut oil, in 1 tablespoon pieces, room temp
1-1/2 cups ripe bananas, (about 3 large bananas)
1/4 cup buttermilk (substitute: plain or coconut yogurt)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs, beaten
1 cup raisins (substitute: dates, currants, 1/2 chopped walnuts, chocolate chips, etc)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9”x5”x3” loaf pan, set aside.

In a large bowl whisk together the flours, oats, brown sugar, shredded coconut, flax seeds, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and allspice. Add butter, coconut oil, bananas, buttermilk, vanilla and eggs. Using a potato masher, smash and mix the ingredients together until fully incorporated. (It’s okay to leave some larger pieces of banana). Stir in raisins. Transfer to loaf pan.

Bake the bread on the middle rack approximately 1 hour 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes on a wire rack before removing from pan.

*****

Moong Dal Chilla (Indian Lentil Pancakes) with Raita
8-10 servings

Moong Dal Chilla:
1 cup moong dal (split yellow mung beans found in Indian food section. Can substitute yellow split peas)
1 carrot, shredded
1/2 red onion, shredded
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 cup chickpea flour
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup whole cooked chickpeas
ghee (clarified butter) or olive oil

Rinse moong dal and soak in a water bath overnight (minimum 4 hours). Blitz drained moong dal in a food processor with 1/4 to 1/2 cup water, until a smooth paste forms.

Warm 2 tablespoons olive oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add carrot and onion, sauté 5 minutes until softened. Add salt, cumin, ginger, garlic powder and turmeric, sauté 2 minutes more, until flavors are released. Transfer to a medium bowl.

Heat oven to 450 degrees F. Stir in chickpea flour, cilantro, whole chickpeas and 1 cup water, mixing until well combined. Set aside for 15 minutes. Transfer batter to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and lightly oiled (jelly roll pan with 1 inch sides). Bake 10-15 minutes, until just golden at the edges. Serve with raita, fruit chutney or chopped tomatoes.

*****

Nori Wrapped Cod Cakes
8-10 servings

2 pounds fatty white fish like cod, pollock, haddock or salmon
2 eggs
1 cup cooked brown rice
1/3 cup chopped scallions, whites and light green only
1/4 cup chopped cilantro, stems and leaves
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon fish sauce
nori (seaweed), cut into 1/2-inch strips
panko crumbs (Japanese bread crumbs)
grapeseed or other neutral oil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and brush with oil,

In a food processor, puree fish with eggs until a smooth paste forms. Transfer to a bowl and fold in brown rice, scallions, cilantro, pepper, salt and fish sauce. Place about 1 cup of panko crumbs on a plate. Dampen hands with cold water, then shape fish batter into balls, about the size of a golf ball. Roll in panko crumbs then wrap the nori strip around the formed fish ball. Place on baking sheet, seam down, and flatten slightly to about 3/4- inch thickness. Continue with remainder, spacing about 1 inch apart. Bake 10-15 minutes until lightly golden. Serve with soy sauce.

Note: Make these Fish Balls Thai flavored by adding red or green Thai curry paste. To make these Norwegian or Spanish, remove fish sauce and scallions for some parsley, garlic and red onions. Thai-style can be served with a little sweet-sour sauce, Spanish with some sofrito (tomato sauce), New England-style with tartar, etc.

A little catching up to do here. The semester ended with our work sleeves rolled up. Our last three recipes were all on the menu for our end of the semester party in late January. It was slightly nerve wrecking piling all our party recipes at the end. A lesson to next semester. My students were great sports through it all though, it seems they have learned to handle parties. No more, “this is boring” after completing two rolls! I even heard a few, “this is really fun.”

Grape Leaves

The grape leaves were great fun to roll. “Leaves?! We’re going to be eating leaves?”

“Sure, you eat lettuce don’t you, that’s a leaf.”

“So this is going to taste like lettuce?”

“Not exactly.”

While most of my older students– third, fourth and fifth graders, really enjoyed these, my younger students weren’t so sure. I think this has to do with a shortened cooking time I decided on to fit this into our 1 hour class schedule. I steamed these for a quick 20 minutes and think an oven-braised approach in a little chicken stock-tomato combo would have been more successful. Ironically, when the K to 2nd graders made their own pomegranate-only grape leaves and ate them uncooked they thought they were right on target. On the other hand, these were a huge success with parents at our end of the semester party. Multiple families followed me to the kitchen to nab some leftovers post-soiree. (Recipes at bottom.)

Arepas

These were more of a success than I was ready for. Okay, I love arepas from the local Venezualan hole-in-the-wall. I love corn and cornmeal. I know kids love corn, but I wasn’t so sure about a cornmeal-like patty slathered in an addictive (according to me) avocado sauce. These were super easy to make. The best part– the kids loved them and they loved making them. While they were mixing they were begging for a taste- “Just a little longer!” I kept saying, “We’ll warm them up in the oven and they’ll be much better.” Still, I caught some pre-cooked dough getting into the mouths.

Once we finished how many times did I have to repeat what we made? “Wait, how do you say these, rapas?”

“A-re-pas.”

“A-rapas.”

Close enough. They all have a cookbook and can review and learn. (Recipes at bottom.)

Brownie Bites

I had two kids that didn’t like these. One didn’t like chocolate. (What?!) The other thought they were cold and he threw his out because he doesn’t like to eat cold things (”Unless it’s ice cream.” “Oh, of course.”). I combined a few recipes I found online then adapted them into something I was happy with. I cut the sugar content and added preserves for a fruity flavor. If they were in season, I would have added fresh fruit too. I had some dehydrated powdered cherries (it looks like pink powdered sugar and tastes like cherries) that we dusted on top the final for our party.

Needless to say, these were beyond a hit at the end of the semester party. I kept receiving phone calls in the kitchen, “Send more brownies up!” I think my kitchen helpers (my 4th and 5th graders) slipped a few more in their mouths then I was aware of– By the end of the night they were so drunk on sugar they got a little sloppy in their presentation going upstairs to the party.

Pomegranate Grape Leaves
Makes about 40 grape leaves

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
2 cups wild rice, rinsed (or 1/2 cup wild rice plus 1/2 cup brown rice)
2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1 cup pomegranate seeds
1/4 cup pomegranate molasses
2 tablespoons dried mint
1 jar grape leaves, rinsed well and lightly dried
lemon wedges

Heat oil in a sauce pan on medium high heat. Add onions, sauté 3 minutes. Add garlic, salt, cinnamon, pepper and cardamom, sauté 2 minutes more. Add wild rice, mix to coat evenly. Add chicken stock, cover and cook until rice is almost fully cooked, slightly al dente. Stir in pomegranate molasses, pomegranate seeds and mint. Season with more salt to taste if necessary. Cool slightly, 10 minutes.
Spread grape leaves flat on a work surface, veins up. Place one tablespoon rice filling in the center, fold up bottom edges then sides, then roll up tight. Continue with remaining grape leaves and filling.
Bring 2-inches of water to a boil and set a steamer basket inside. Layer grape leaves (can be placed on top of each other). Cover and steam 20 minutes. Serve warm or chilled sprinkled with lemon juice.
NOTE: Replace half to all of the pomegranate seeds with pine nuts. Add ground lamb or beef for extra flavor. Serve as an appetizer or with pita, meze dips and carrot salad, above.

Arepas with Avocado Sauce & Black Beans
Makes about 40 1-inch arepas

Arepa:
1 cup whole milk
4 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup masarepa (pre-cooked corn flour, sometimes called Harina precocida or Masa al instante)
1 cup grated queso fresco
1/2 cup sweet corn kernels (if frozen, thawed)
grape seed or peanut oil for cooking

Avocado Sauce (Guasacaca):
1 avocado, rough chopped
1 cup fresh cilantro, rough chopped
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup fresh parsley, rough chopped
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 can black beans, washed and drained

Stir milk, butter, honey, salt and allspice in a small saucepot over medium heat until it simmers. Stir in the masarepa and queso fresco. Stir until very thick, about 5 minutes, remove from heat. Stir in corn kernels until evenly incorporated. Set aside to cool and thicken, about 10 minutes.

While cooling, make the avocado sauce. Blitz avocado, mayonnaise, cilantro, lime juice and salt in a blender until smooth.

Scoop up balls of the arepa batter, slightly smaller than a golf ball. Transfer to a tray, flattening into 1/4-inch disk. Continue with remaining batter, setting on a tray as you finish. Heat about 3 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sear arepas in batches, careful not to crowd, until golden, 4 minutes, turn, then cook another 4 minutes. To serve: add a dollop of the avocado sauce then top with a few black beans. Serve warm or at room temperature.
NOTE: You can alternatively brush the arepas with butter or oil and bake about 15 minutes until golden.

Cherry Brownie Bites

5 ounces dark chocolate, broken into 1/2-ounce pieces
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for coating pan
3 eggs
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup seedless cherry preserves
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour plus 1 tablespoon for coating pan
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Coat a 9″x 13″ x 1-1/2″-inch pan with butter. Flour the pan with 1 tablespoon flour, shake out excess.
Melt chocolate pieces and butter over a double boiler (place a heat-proof bowl over a small saucepot with boiling water). Stir periodically to prevent burning, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat when almost totally melted, stir to finish melting, set aside. With an electric mixer on high, whisk eggs, sugar and vanilla until thick, about 2 minutes. Add chocolate mixture, preserves and sour cream, mixing until fully incorporated. Sift in flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Mix until just combined.
Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake 30 minutes, until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool at room temperature for 5 minutes then refrigerate 15 to 20 minutes before slicing.
NOTE: Use your favorite preserve here. Raspberry, blueberry, apricot, peach would all taste great!

(Sadly, I didn’t take photos this past week. If I remember I’ll bring home one of my students drawings to scan and post– when we have down time I have students draw dishes we made to put in the cookbook next to the recipes.)

The week before winter break I took it easy with my students. I perhaps should not seeing we have our end of the semester party coming up at the end of January. At the moment we have three items frozen for the party: empanadas, veggie wontons and this week entries meze dips. I’m being given vague answers on the numbers to expect (anywhere from 50 to 300 adults), how much is consumed (the food is always finished early) and what’s been done in the past (the truffles were a hit). On top of it, I’ve only catered my own parties with help yourself/buffet service and the last time I passed food was for Girl Scouts. For this event I have fifth graders passing food. All that combined I’m starting to get a little nervous.

The week before winter break we were supposed to make stuffed grape leaves. I realized our week was shortened and knew some students would be taking longer breaks and not be in class. I needed those grape leaves for the party and frankly, I need the motor skills of my older students (classes that would be canceled due to break). A quick rearrangement and I had meze dips ready for my students in the shortened week.

Meze dips are a perfect no hassle party food. Easy to make in large quantities and take hardly any time to prepare. (Seriously, I had so much time at the end of class I started asking everyone what they wanted to make next semester. Unfortunately, the ideas for the most part didn’t go past a traditional kid’s menu.) The dips for the most part also freeze well. This meant the students could kick out large quantities of dips in small numbers.

Another great thing about these meze is that the kids are familiar with the ingredients or at least final product. Hummus? Sure I eat that all the time. What?! Made out of beans, gross! Red peppers? Delicious. Tzatziki? I can’t say it, but cucumbers are my favorite food. Meaning? These dips are a great way to get kids eating good food they like. (Recipes below)

The first week back was also an easy time for my students. I was on vacation. That didn’t mean my students got a vacation though. I forwarded a no-cook Moroccan salad to school, bought all the ingredients and prepped work areas. We’ll see how that turned out when I return Monday.

Pita Wedges
1 packet pita
olive oil
za’atar*

*Za’atar is a wild thyme-based spice mixture available at Middle Eastern or specialty markets or in the International section of high end groceries. Each blend is slightly different based on the producer, but other spices include sesame seeds, sumac, salt and Aleppo pepper.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Slice pita into 8 wedges. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with za’atar. Use as a base for the following meze dips:

Tzatziki
4 Persian cucumbers (or 1 regular, seeded), diced
2 pints Greek-style yogurt
2 lemons, juiced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
5 sprigs fresh dill, washed and chopped
salt to taste
paprika, for garnish

Mix first six ingredients. Place a dollop on a pita wedge, sprinkle with paprika to serve.

Hummus
1 16 ounce can chickpeas, washed and drained
2 cloves garlic
1 lemon, juiced
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons ground cumin
salt to taste
za’atar, for garnish

Place first 6 ingredients in a blender. Blitz until smooth, adding water, 2 tablespoons at a time as needed to process. Salt to taste. Place a dollop on a pita wedge, sprinkle with za’atar to serve.

Roasted Red Pepper Dip
2 cups roasted red peppers (if using jarred, drain and pat dry)
1 lemon, juiced
1 shallot, peeled and roughly chopped
1 clove garlic
1 cup tahini
salt to taste
capers, for garnish (or a single caper berry)

Place first six ingredients in a blender. Blitz until smooth. Salt to taste. Place a dollop on a pita wedge, sprinkle with capers to serve. Note: Replace tahini with yogurt, feta, almonds or walnuts for a totally new dip.

Moroccan Carrot Salad
1/2 pound carrots, washed, peeled and grated (about 4 large carrots)
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup golden raisins
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix ingredients until combined. Season with more salt to taste if desired. Serve as a side dish or with pita wedges (above). Note: Try this salad stuffed in a pita with roasted chicken or one of the above dips.

Sweet Potato Latkes with Applesauce

Last week my students harnessed their Bubbes. Out came the graters, or as the kids call them, “the shredders,” pushed back their sleeves, tied on those aprons and got down to business. Potatoes are hard for little hands to shred, especially those larger sweet potatoes. They are heavy, they are awkwardly shaped and they’re dense. As you can see in the picture above, sometimes two sets of hands (a second to hold the shredder) was needed.

The students were great sports through it all.

“Latkes? What’s that.”

“They’re potato pancakes for Hannukah.”

“What do they taste like?”

“Sort of like french fries.”

And that’s all it took to set them into a shredding frenzy.

I broke each class into three groups, each making a different latke flavor so we could explore some spices. One made plain salt and pepper, another made cumin and the third made our “dessert” cinnamon latkes. A few eggs and then we crisped them up in olive oil and enjoyed them with applesauce. (recipe at bottom)

Lemon Stained Glass Cookies

This week my classes are celebrating their second week of holidays. As Hannukah is just about leaving us, we’re busy cutting cookies for Christmas. This week, we turned boring sugar cookies into zippy cinnamony-lemon treats. We took those zippy cookies and added another element, cutting out smaller shapes in the cookies, then filling those cut outs with crushed hard candies.

The kids loved how our opaque sugar powders (ground Jolly Ranchers) turned into smooth clear centers. When held up to the light these cookies are really dazzling. Of course, in class, our cookies were eaten so quickly we didn’t even bother to poke a hole at top to hang them.

A word to those working these cookies in your own kitchen: keep an eye on the flour and dough scraps! At the end of each day I am thrilled I’m not the one to mop up the floor (and sorry for the one that does). If it’s any consolation I do have to scrape off the bottom of my shoes. (recipe at bottom, photo tk)

****

Sweet Potato Latkes with Applesauce
Makes about 20 small latkes

2 pounds sweet potatoes
1 small Vidalia onion
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
Add one:
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Grate sweet potatoes and onion using the largest setting on a box grater. Spread potatoes and onions on a paper towel, cover with more paper towels and press to expel water. Transfer the potatoes and onions into a bowl. Add eggs and salt.  For regular flavored latkes, add ground pepper. For cumin flavored latkes, add cumin. For cinnamon “dessert” latkes, add the cinnamon. Alternatively, after adding the eggs and salt, divide the mixture between three bowls and add the seasoning to each for three different latke flavors.
Warm olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Place a scoop of potato batter into the pan and flatten with a spatula. Fry until darkly golden, about 6 minutes, flip and fry another 5 to 6 minutes.Transfer to serving plate and serve with applesauce and sour cream.
*****

Lemon Stained Glass Cookies
Makes about 30 cookies

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1-1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
7 ounces clear hard candies, broken into small pieces (Recommended: Jolly Rancher)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Note: an easy method for breaking hard candies is to put them through the coffee grinder.
With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the egg, lemon extract and lemon zest. Beat to combine about 1 minute more. Sift in flours, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Mix until just combined.
Form the dough into a smooth ball and transfer to a well floured surface. Flatten dough into a sphere and sprinkle with flour. Roll out dough to about 1/8-inch thickness. Cut desired shapes using large cookie cutters. Transfer cut dough to a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Use smaller cookie cutter shapes, removing shapes from the cookies, leaving approximately a 1/2-inch border around the edges. Gather scraps, form into a ball and re-roll dough for more cookies. Poke a hole at the top of the cookies (to create ornament cookies). Sprinkle a layer of hard candy in the small cookie cutter holes. Bake 10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool about 10 minutes on cookie sheet before removing them with a thin spatula.

Holidays and colds have put me a little behind these days but the kids continue to cook. I’ll round up our wonton week here and follow it up later tonight with our holiday cooking from last week and this week.

The first thing one must realize when cooking with kids is that your final dish will probably look nothing like you envisioned. You know those perfectly wrapped wontons that were demonstrated about six times? Not going to happen. What does happen is something much better and something the kids can be proud of. I just provided one rule: Seal the edges. Wonton shapes that came out were fabulous– from cinched up purses to envelopes. Eventually some boys decided their wontons were looking like spaceships, which became an even easier rule: Astronauts cannot be exposed to space! Seal them in!

“Is this correct?”

“Can you see the astronauts?”

“No.”

“Then we’re set for take off.”

Our semester finishes at the end of January with a big party where all the clubs in the after school program show off what they’ve been doing with their time. Ceramics has an art display, dance shows off their dance and cooking provides the food for everyone with the 4th and 5th graders as servers. So far we’ve made butternut squash empanadas and the other week it was the wontons pictured above (our upcoming weeks are all party-centric). Most of the kids were really good sports saying how much fun it was to fill and shape these packets. (I told everyone they had to make at least 20 wontons.) Of course, some tuckered out, “planning for a party is hard work! Two more!” I told them. Some of the students even started setting up production lines: “I just made 10 at once!” My response: “Good job! See if you can now do 15 at once!”

The best part is that not only did the kids find these fun to form, they really enjoyed eating them. I had them grating ingredients by hand and while they were exclaiming how tiring it was, I caught many sneeking nibbles of shredded carrots and edamame. Once cooked, they were clamoring for more than their alloted two– “Sorry! We need to save the rest for the party!”

During the party, we’ll be frying these up and serving them with dipping sauce. In class, we boiled them, put a dash of miso in our water and had an Asian fusion dumpling soup that the kids dug.

Vegetable Wonton Soup
Makes about 60 wontons

Filling:
1 cup edamame beans, shelled
3 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon ginger
6 scallions, sliced
2 carrots, shredded
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
1/4 head of cabbage, shredded
1/4 cup tablespoons cilantro, chopped
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes

Wonton wrappers

Blitz edamame, garlic, soy sauce, honey and ginger in a blender until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and fold in remaining filling ingredients. Place a wonton wrapper on a work surface. Use your finger to brush the edges with water. Add approximately 1/2 tablespoon to the center of the wonton, fold in half, corner to corner, forming a triangle and sealing edges. Pinch the triangle corners together. Place on a cookie sheet and repeat with remaining wontons. Freeze the wontons overnight on the cookie sheet then transfer to a freezer bag or cook them to eat immediately.

To cook: (Fried) Heat sesame oil over medium high heat. Add in a few wontons. Cook 2-3 minutes each side until lightly browned. Serve with dipping sauce. (Boiled) Bring water to a boil. Drop in a few wontons. Boil 5-6 minutes. Add hot water over 1 teaspoon of miso paste (optional) and a few pieces of seaweed, stir to combine. Add wontons and garnish with chopped scallions and cilantro.

These last few weeks have slipped through my fingers but I promise the kids are still cooking. Herewith is a round up of our recipes to bring everyone up to speed. Happy feasting!

Curried Butternut Squash Soup with Apple Grilled Cheese.

This is one of my favorite soups made many times before in slightly different forms. I wasn’t too thrilled with the one we made in class and I blame it on using vegetable stock over chicken stock. It was still delicious but didn’t have as deep a flavor I think chicken stock imparts. For this one we were exploring curry. Many of the kids knew they’d had it before but couldn’t necessarily place it. Finally on Thursday a student mentioned it smelled like Tikka Masala. Thank you scent memory!

The apple grilled cheese was of course a favorite. I used brioche bread and purchased a yellow cheddar and a Gruyere cheese, allowing the students to taste both cheeses and pick the one they wanted to use. Surprisingly most went for the Gruyere saying how much they preferred “white cheddar” over yellow. A few students weren’t too sure about apples on their grilled cheese– “trust me, this is a favorite combination for almost everyone.” (Especially if you throw in a glass a wine.) In the end, one of my students proclaimed these sandwiches were “definitely better than the grilled cheeses at school.” I replied that it’s probably because we’re using real cheese. Another said they had never tasted bread so delicious. (Which might be true because I had adults raiding my refrigerator all week and was provided a key to lock my fridge after that week.)

All recipes found at the bottom of entry.

Cranberry-Apple Crumble.

When the year started I thought it would be great to have my students make something for Thanksgiving they could all share with their families. I originally wanted to make apple pies and even had fall-shaped cookie cutters for decorating the top crust. In the end, I went with a graham-cracker crusted crumble. A little more rustic looking and a little easier time-wise since we only have one hour and if we were to make a pie I wanted homemade crust. Also, do you know how many supplies you need to make 70 pies!?

I bought apple peelers for this and the kids had a blast peeling all the apples with ease. Highly recommended. I also bought apple cutters that cut wedges. These were a little difficult for young ones to maneuver with apples sometimes flying from beneath them. In the future I might add the apple cutting attachment on the apple peeler, getting it all done in one shot.

Otherwise, they loved the crumbles. Most were shocked at how tart cranberries are raw, but how they pop into something so sweet and juicy once baked. The students got really creative here. Whereas I said, just add a bunch of handfuls of filling and fill the spaces with cranberries (in the interest of time), a lot of students took great care to layer the apples, dotting the pie symmetrically with cranberries. None could believe how high we had to stack the apples, some literally putting 4 slices of apples in their crust (making smiley faces) and saying they were done. “Keep going! We need a mountain,” I kept saying.

So the kids happily brought their crumbles home and I had a baked crumble for each class to enjoy and taste what their finished product may be. This past week some of the students even told me they were bringing their crumble on the plane to their Thanksgiving feasts outside the city! I love it.

Cranberry-Caesar Salad with Turkey.

Last week was a shortened week for the holiday but I wanted to keep it holiday themed. Since we did our crumbles the week before (every student had a crumble to take home), this week was our “Thanksgiving leftovers.” Caesar salad was always one of my favorite salads growing up (and still is). When I was young, no anchovies please, not realizing they were hidden inside the dressing. Now of course, extra anchovies, please! So I thought this would be a fun salad to explore.

I’ve made a grapefruit caesar before so I knew I wanted to replace the tart lemon with some tart cranberry sauce. Turkey was the obvious Thanksgiving leftover protein here and we made croutons with stale bread. Equally delicious, or perhaps more delicious, would have been frying up some stuffing patties as the croutons (next time).

At the beginning of class I had a few girls come up to me: “Oh, I’m really sick.”
“No you’re not or you wouldn’t have been in school today.”
“No, I have that H1N1, you just can’t tell.”
“Nice try.”
“No, I mean I’m allergic to salad.”
“No you’re not, I have a list of everything everyone is allergic to.”
“Okay, I don’t eat salad.”
“Rule #1 is we all eat everything.”
“Fine, but I’m not going to like it.”
“Great, that’s rule #2.”

In the end these same girls were in awe of the pink hue this dressing took on, “It looks like a strawberry smoothie!” And it did. The cranberry turned out to be a great addition and then, “Where did all those wormy fish go?”
“They’re in the dressing.”
“I can’t even taste them!”

Curried Butternut Squash Soup
8 servings

1 large butternut squash, reserve seeds
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 tart apple, plus (recommended: Granny Smith), peeled, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon curry
4 cups (1 quart) chicken or vegetable stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Special Equipment: Immersion Blender

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Cut the squash in half lengthwise, deseed, reserving seeds. Place facedown on a baking sheet and bake 40 minutes. Rinse seeds and lay out on a baking sheet, sprinkle with salt and bake about 10 minutes, until golden and just beginning to pop.

Warm the olive oil in a saucepot on medium high heat. Saute onion and apple, 10 minutes. Add curry and stir to incorporate. Scoop squash flesh from the skin. Add flesh to saucepot. Add stock, bring to a boil, then simmer 10 minutes.

Puree the soup with an immersion blender (or carefully with a stand blender). Serve, sprinkled with seeds or chopped apple.

Apple Grilled Cheese
8 servings

16 slices thick cut potato bread, challah or brioche
Gruyere cheese (or cheddar), sliced
2 tart apples (recommended: Granny Smith), cored, sliced into 16 to 18 segments
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

NOTE: Other delicious additions include roasted garlic, caramelized onions, thick-cut bacon, and/ or sautéed mushroom

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lay 8 slices of bread on a baking sheet. Top the bread with a few thick slices of cheese. Layer with apples then top with another single slice of cheese. Top with the second slice of bread, brush with melted butter and bake, 15 minutes, flipping sandwiches and brushing with more butter halfway through baking.

Cranberry-Apple Crumble
1 9-inch crumble

Filling:
4-5 tart apples (recommended: Granny Smith, McIntosh, Cortland), peeled, cored and sliced into wedges
1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup fresh cranberries
2 tablespoons flour
1 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Crust:
1-1/2 cups crushed graham crackers
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Topping:
1/2 cup crushed graham crackers
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

Make Filling:  Toss filling ingredients until evenly combined, set aside, allowing flavors to mingle.
Make Crust: Mix crushed graham crackers, melted butter, lemon zest and nutmeg. Push into a 9-inch pie tin, coating into an even crust on bottom and sides, approximately 1/8-inch thick.
Make Topping: Mix filling ingredients with a fork until large crumbs form.
Assemble Pie: Add filling over crust. Sprinkle topping over apple filling. Bake or freeze.

A few hours before serving, preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Remove crumble from freezer, remove any coverings and bake on middle rack 15 minutes. Lower temperature to 350 degrees F, bake 30-35 minutes, until bubbly, fragrant and apples are tender. Cool on a rack at least 1 hour before serving.

(Optional) Reheat a slice in the microwave and top with a scoop of vanilla, caramel or cinnamon ice cream.

Cranberry-Caesar Salad with Turkey
12 servings

Croutons:
Stale bread
Olive oil
Garlic powder
Salt
Pepper
Dressing:
4 anchovies, patted dry
3 large cloves garlic (or 1 teaspoon garlic powder)
1 egg
3 tablespoons cranberry sauce
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons tarragon or apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
fresh-ground black pepper

Make Croutons: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Assemble bread on a sheet pan. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Bake 10-15 minutes, until golden.
Make Dressing: Place all ingredients in a blender and blitz until combined. Taste and adjust seasonings if desired. Note: If you trust the source of your eggs and know they are fresh (bought direct from a farm or Greenmarket) you may eat them raw. If not, boil egg for 1 minute before using.
Assemble Salad: Toss dressing with leftover salad greens, about 1 cup of shredded turkey and croutons.

“This isn’t pasta– it’s pillows of heaven!”

I share the same sentiments, but a fifth grader beat me with getting the words out.

Gnocchi week has been the best success yet. Dare I say better than pumpkin muffins?

At the insistence of Kitchen Rule #1, “Try Everything” I was able to nudge skeptical students to try the gnocchi. No joke, not only did most everyone return for seconds, many kept coming back.

My original plan was to make a sage and spinach gnocchi from a recent Saveur. I liked it because it utilized semolina flour and I’m always looking to introduce my students to a new ingredient. My mind eventually wandered as I thought about amping up the fall flavors. I toyed with pumpkin gnocchi and sweet potato gnocchi. I decided against both since we’ve used them recently, or will in weeks to come.

I also wanted to move away from sage because we used it in our empanadas. I switched the herb to rosemary, something we have yet to explore.

In the end I went with beets. I knew the kids would get a kick out of the color– “Pink pasta! This isn’t like any pasta I’ve seen before!” I kept chopped spinach to add some color, along with the semolina flour. (At home, I would have used chopped beet greens instead of spinach, but going with frozen chopped was a little time saver.)

I really liked the semolina flour. It provided great texture and richness to the gnocchi. Both the beets and spinach were subtle flavor enhancers. Infusing the butter in rosemary before browning these pillows of heaven left a truly heavenly aroma in the kitchen and lingering on the pasta.

We browned these gnocchi on a skillet instead of boiling. It gave a great crispness to the pasta and you can’t beat butter infused with rosemary!

Beet and Spinach Gnocchi
8 servings

1 lb russet potatoes (recommended: small potatoes)
1/2 cup pureed beets (about 2 small beets; use pre-cooked or see method below)
1-1/4 cups semolina flour, plus more
4 ounces frozen spinach, thawed and drained (or: chop, sauté and drain your beet greens! The flavor is similar to spinach.)
2 eggs, beaten
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg, plus
freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 tablespoons butter
4 3-inch rosemary sprigs
Parmesan cheese

Special Equipment: Ricer or Food Mill

NOTE: In class, I cooked, peeled and cooled beets and potatoes early in the week. This made assembly of the gnocchi a super fast snap!

Preheat oven to 400F. Snip greens from beets (save for another use), wrap in foil and roast until soft, about 45 minutes. Remove skin under cold running water, set aside to cool. Boil whole potatoes, skin on, until soft, 25-30 minutes. Cool and peel potatoes by slipping the skin between two paper towels.

Pass beets and potatoes through a ricer into a medium bowl. Stir in drained spinach, flour, eggs, nutmeg, salt and a few turns of black pepper until well combined. (NOTE: Drain spinach by pressing the water out.) Batter should hold together when pressed but still be sticky.

Scoop a heaping spoonful of the dough onto a semolina-dusted work surface. Roll into a log, about 1/2-inch thick. Slice into 1/2-inch long pieces, transfer to a semolina-dusted parchment-lined baking sheet. Continue to re-flour (if necessary) scoop and roll dough until done.

Warm butter in a skillet. Add rosemary and sauté 2 minutes until fragrant. Add gnocchi to pan and a pinch of nutmeg, cooking until browned, about 4 minutes each side. Continue until all gnocchi is cooked, adding more butter if needed. Once complete, toss gnocchi together lightly in a serving bowl with any reserved rosemary or butter from pan. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese to serve.

NOTE: Leave out the beets and try sweet potato or winter squash (like pumpkin) gnocchi. Or, add 2 tablespoons tomato paste (red gnocchi), pureed spinach for green, or other veggie for another color. Serve with sautéed mushroom or tomato sauce.

These muffins were a lot of fun to make and the students loved them. To make a more adult or general fall version, nix the frosting altogether, or do a maple syrup-powdered sugar glaze (keeping them more local too). The muffins are 100% whole wheat and the flavor is enriched by lovely fall spices and molasses in lieu of white sugar.

In class, we made mini muffins and everyone was able to decorate three– one to eat in class, two to bring home. We did coconut frosting because I wanted the texture to give the witches and goblins we would be creating a creepier face. Otherwise, I cut the sugar in the frosting by 1 cup with the addition of unsweetened coconut. I had a number of students proclaim they didn’t like coconut but at the end of the day they were eating the muffins with as much gusto as everyone else.

I broke our one hour class time similar to pizza day. Monday before class I made and baked a batch of muffins (so the muffins would be cool when we worked with them). In class we made a batch of batter, which I then refrigerated for the next day’s class. Students made the frosting and were provided decorations. Most of the students worked really fast on these so I was able to take my time going over the ingredients. The following class day I baked yesterday’s batter and had the muffins ready to go.

For decorations, I split the frosting into six batches and added a few drops of food coloring. This gave the students red, orange, green, blue, black and white bases to work with. Next they mostly had dried fruit for add ons: dates, bananas, raisins, cranberries, papaya and ginger. Also, pretzel sticks, marshmallows and a few sprinkles. I told my students to work for shape, rather than a candy pile on.

In all our excitement I forgot to take photos of some of my students truly amazing creations. We had marshmallow mummies, monsters with banana chip tongues, spiders with date arms, witches, devils, ghosts, goblins, cyclops, and beautiful abstract blobs of holiday color (perhaps a Kadinsky or two in our future). Which is why above, is a picture of my classroom blackboard, rather than some fabulous looking muffins.

One of my kindergarteners approached me after class and asked how I came up with our project for the day.
“It’s Halloween week.”
“I think you’re smart because I really like these.”
“Thanks, I’m glad you had so much fun.”
“Yeah, and also, do you know how to make pumpkin pie? Because you’re going to make a pumpkin pie for my Halloween party this weekend.”
No demands. I should have suggested that since he is now an expert at muffins, and enjoyed them so much, he should make them for all his friends.

Aprons were a train wreck at the end of the week so make sure to cover up, especially with the food coloring.

Pumpkin Spice Muffins with Coconut Frosting
Makes 24 mini muffins. Bake time= 15-18 minutes.

Muffins:
3/4 cup pure pumpkin puree
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons crushed ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon ground flax (optional)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground clove
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Frosting:
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Decoration:
Black, green, orange, red, blue food coloring, assorted dried fruit and candies, etc

Preheat oven to 350F. Line 24 mini muffin cups with liners. In a medium bowl add pumpkin, egg, molasses, butter, ginger and vanilla. Stir until well combined. Sift in whole wheat flour, baking powder, flax, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, clove and baking soda. Mix until just combined, being careful not to over mix ingredients.

Scoop batter into muffin liners. Bake 15-18 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. While baking, whisk together frosting ingredients. Divide frosting into small bowls. Dye one green, one orange, one black, etc. Set aside.

Remove muffins from oven. Let cool 10-15 minutes. Frost and decorate with assorted candies and dried fruit.